Always About Blondes
by mat528
Summary: After being deserted by his team, Angel finds a new position across the pond.
1. Chapter 1

ALWAYS ABOUT BLONDES

**A/n: This idea was one of my first attempts at fan fiction. I never published this story for various reasons, and actually, this is a "recreation" of my idea of a one-shot involving Rose and Angel on Pete's World since I lost the original. This chapter in particular also ties in with another fan fic I am writing: "Affecting Probability Two: Mending Broken Fences".**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Rose Tyler, Angel, or any publicly recognizable characters, and I am not making any money off of this. This work is purely for fun and no infringement is intended.**

**Synopsis: Pretend that Rose never linked up with either Doctor Number Ten, or his cloned self, and she is in London, working for Torchwood. Pretend also that, after the events of "Not Fade Away" on Angel, the vampire ended up in London. Let's see what happens.**

CHAPTER ONE

Angel nursed the glass he had been staring at for the past half hour in the English pub he visited in the heart of London. He stared at the amber contents, remembering how his unlife had changed dramatically in the past four months. He smiled at the irony that whenever something big happened in his unlife, a blonde had _always _been at the heart of it. Yes, he decided, it was always about blondes.

Take the few scant hours before he'd visited the pub. He had gone to his usual "meeting", a gathering with yet another blonde temptress in his life. (Not really blonde, he realized as he could still smell traces of the hair color she had used, but blonde by any other standards.) They always met at her flat, a place that, while certainly larger than his, was just a place she went to whenever she wanted to escape the grind of daily life, to pretend that things for both of them were somehow "normal".

Whenever they were together outside of work, there were no hello's, no polite chitchats by her fireplace, no whispered words of _forever _or even thoughts of it like lovers shared. There was just the here, the now, the let's-get-this-over-with-out-of-base-sexual-needs-rather-than-because-we-love-each-other connection.

She was taller than either Darla or Buffy, and of course, she was British rather than American. When she removed her clothes and they kissed with such animal passion, such ferocity, Angel often thought about the Premiere Slayer, and sometimes his deceased sire, and cried out either one or both of their names whenever he had sex. The woman he banged was also crying out a name, or really a job title, though he conjectured that this "Doctor" must have meant the universe to her from the way her sexy mouth uttered her complete devotion to his memory. The vampire didn't try to psychoanalyze it too closely; after all, she satisfied his basic need for release of a kind not found by fighting and killing, and she _was_ his employer.

The woman, Rose Tyler, also wasn't judgmental, wondering why he so obviously wanted to be with two someone else's rather than with her. She just took it in stride, riding him with stamina which rivaled a vampire's, then left the usual pound notes in his pocket whenever she left.

So it was most nights that he found one of the few solaces he craved after he wore her scent on his body, in a bar Rose had recommended that catered to humans, vampires, and all manner of strange beings even by his standards with no questions asked. Angel finally downed his third glass of blood mixed with Scotch, thinking about what had driven him to London, to work for Rose Tyler, and for this pub.

_(Almost five years ago…)_

"Are you sure about this?" his lawyer, Steve Masonry, had asked Angel. "I mean, the Wolf, the Ram, and the Heart won't take too kindly to you just…abandoning ship."

Angel had sat in his chair at his desk, not really registering the lawyer's question. He just thought about how lonely his life had gotten since his team had left. Gunn had been first, saying that after all that went down, he wanted to "keep it real" and find his old gang buddies in Encino. Nina had also left, saying that she "craved more" from their relationship than Angel was willing to provide.

Illyria had given him her usual disdainful look, the one she hurled in his path whenever her mind conjured up memories of Wesley, or even when she was just simply in one of her moods (which was all the time).

"_It is not a good idea for us to be together," she had told him. Angel just stared at the blue hued, former god._

"_Why not?" he had asked matter-of-factly. "You're the last one of my team left."_

"_I grow tired of the endless chasing, and although the killing provides some satisfaction, the fact that we do not triumph in any way is becoming tedious," she answered just as matter-of-factly. Angel sighed. He hated these philosophical discussions he got into with Illyria about how it wasn't about winning the war, but more about what good could be accomplished in fighting the battle._

"_If you leave this, where are you going to go?" he had wondered aloud. The blue hued woman/god who very loosely resembled Fred Burkle looked at his brooding, somber expression and cocked her head._

"_There is a temple in the place on the Eastern shores, the one with the Statue of Liberty," she told the vampire. _

_Angel laughed derisively, saying, "New York? You're going to __**New York?**__"_

"_I am," Illyria answered. "My followers there in Manhattan will give me the one thing I always wanted ever since taking over this wretched shell: devotion."_

_Angel had felt panic at her words. True, theirs was a love-hate relationship, but everyone else had left, even Harmony on a whirlwind trip to France with her new vampire boyfriend. If Illyria left, he would be truly alone. He couldn't live with another 70 years or more on his own the way he had before Buffy had come into his life._

"_I'm devoted to you!" he cried. "I was just saying to myself this morning, 'self, let's get a pedestal for Illyria to stand on so that I can show her how devoted I am to her'". Illyria just stared._

_Angel ran his fingers over his short, gelled hair, saying, "Well, actually…I wasn't doing that. But we could find some slab of wood for you to stand on so that…"._

"_Enough, Angelus," the former god had said, using the Latin version of his name. "I have thought about this long and hard, and I have made up my mind." She morphed into the image of Fred and grabbed the girl's clothes which she kept whenever she didn't wish to attract undue attention._

"_Do not try to find me," Illyria said, then she softened at Angel's stricken look. "I'm sorry," she said apologetically. She left Angel standing in the empty office._

Yes, Illyria's unexpected departure had been bad, but the one which sent him selling his position as Wolfram and Hart's manager and booking a plane ticket across the pond after much soul searching was Spike. Though he and the former William the Bloody had never gotten along, Angel had still felt an almost kinship on the both vampire's parts. They were sort of like distant cousins, each with their own peculiarities, each with their own hang ups about the unlives they'd had. But after the battle with the Circle of the Black Thorn, all that had changed.

"_Well, Peaches, 'm goin' back to bein' by myself for a time," Spike had told Angel about a few days before Illyria's departure._

"_Why, William?" Angel asked, using Spike's human name when he really wanted to discuss something deep._

_The platinum blond being looked at his former grandsire and sighed, saying, "'M human now. I Shanshued, an' I only have the one short life. I stay with you much longer, I'll be dead before the ink on my house deed is dry."_

"_But you still have the strength and the senses of a vampire, and your aging is slower," Angel reminded him. They both didn't say anything as they thought of the gift the Powers that Be had given the younger being. In exchange for the former Spike's help combatting the supernatural forces of darkness, he would keep most of his vampiric abilities intact, with none of the demonic influence he had had before. _

"_Yeh," William conceded, "but I get tired an' hungry more often, an' I have certain needs that bein' with you just won't cut." _

_Before Angel could say something, William said, "Look Peaches. I know my life'll never be like 'The Brady Bunch', but I want a shot at havin' at least a somewhat domestic life, a li'l woman and all that. Can't do that if we're constantly fightin' the Big Bads."_

"_We'll try semi-retirement from fighting evil," Angel had found himself promising._

_William had snorted. "Yeh, right, 'cause that always works whenever we're together," he ground out._

"_Look at it this way," William had said, trying to placate Angel, "you'll find some other extraordinary git to fight demons with, in addition to Blue, of course."_

It had been William's good fortune a few years after the former younger vampire had departed which had cemented Angel's decision to relocate to England. Even though he knew Giles and Willow were there, the vampire decided he could do much worse than relocating to Spike's country of origin.

"Mr. Angel?" the lawyer asked hesitantly. Angel leaned forward, his solemn, brown eyes staring at the man.

"Just 'Angel'," he said. "Yes, I'm sure, and I'm not exactly leaving you all empty handed."

"Well…" the attorney had mused, "you are leaving us in good hands with the demon Sh'r'takan. He comes highly recommended, and, I must admit, my superiors are very happy with this. But I don't know…".

Angel said in his most confident voice, "Look, I've fought and won the Right of Severance with my contract with this place. I and anyone I might have been with are no longer bound by your—" the revenant searched for the right words—'conditions'. I just want to start over."

"Do you know where you're going?" the lawyer asked as he put copies of the signed contract terminating Angel's control of the firm. Angel had gotten up and stared out the window tinted with sunlight ray defense properties.

"Pond hopping," he said. He walked out of the office and went home to pack.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

**A/n: The first part of this chapter also ties into "Affecting Probability Two: Mending Broken Fences", where Spike (now William,) and Buffy are reunited after an almost five year separation. **

**There is a very slight nod in this chapter to two other series, "Dark Shadows" and "Murder, She Wrote" as well. Of course, I don't own any of those series, either, and I don't have two pennies to rub together as I'm still not making a profit, but just writing for fun.**

XXXXXXXX

Later that night, as Angel had flown on the plane with the specially treated windows, he thought about how lucky Spike was. The older revenant had wondered if not giving up his immortality had been a good idea. He had opened a letter which had magically appeared in his coat pocket while he waited at the airport.

_Dearest Angel (boy…did that sound lame; my love's poetry must be rubbing off on me, or maybe it's hormones):_

_How are things in LA? I wrote you a letter and asked Willow to zap it to you 'cause I wasn't sure you'd look at an email or take a phone call from me. I had heard that you had been in Italy recently, searching for me. At that time when I was with my Immortal boyfriend, Jack the Pirate, I really didn't want to be found. Now, I have a new life and a new-old love. Are you ready for this?_

_**I ran into Sp—William right here in Maine! **_

Angel's eyes had narrowed as he thought two things, the first thing was: Maine…? What could possibly be hellish in Maine that would require both Buffy and William to deal with it (in fact, why she had left The Immortal for William nee Spike was something he didn't want to know about). The second was that it was typical that the former younger vampire would go after her. He felt himself growing green with envy at Spike's good fortune as he returned to reading Buffy's letter.

_I admit, I was totally wiggin' when he showed up! I mean, he was deader than dead the last time we had been together (I __**so**__ need to deal with you not telling me he was still around,) and I really didn't want to have any kind of relationship with any man when he showed. _

_But I've grown up a little (I'm almost thirty years young,) and he's __**changed.**_

_**Yeah, sure, **_Angel had thought_._

_I know what you're thinking: that he can't change, but he has! We both have! Oh, he still is as arrogant and kinda annoying as ever, but he not only has his soul as you well know; he has an even greater, more loving heart than he had had the first time. He still really cares about me, and after I never thought we'd work out as a couple, I found that I care deeply about him._

_Now for the boring: his singing career as "William Worthington" is taking off (think double platinum CD), and I'm working alongside him nights, patrolling and the usual stuff. I know you probably were scratching your head wondering what kind of demons and vampires could possibly be in Maine, but trust me: between the town named after a family with vampires in it (Mr. Collins seems okay even without a soul), and even the totally psycho town full of humans murdering people, "Cabot-something", there's a lot to deal with._

_When I'm not working as the Head of Security in my other gig, William and I just talk. I hope you can be happy for us when I tell you… _

_**I'm so happy! I never thought that I would find the one guy I really could spend the rest of my life with, but I did! I know that you'll have issues with this (so will he,) but you'll both just have to deal, sooner or later. We're getting married in a few months, six or more (I'll send you an invitation even if it involves you coming through a dimensional portal for you to be there,) and we both want you to come.**_

_I know you both wanna stake each other, (BTW: have you ever thought of going on "Doctor Phil" or some…never mind!) but William actually __**did **__want you to come. I just got him to vocalize it._

_Anyway, I love you as my dearest friend, and my first love, and you __**always will be.**__ So, please don't say no and not show up. Be happy for both of us, and promise me you'll find someone to bring with you, 'cause coming to a reception by yourself would break my heart, and I would probably stake you for giving me depression on my wedding day. (Just kidding about that last part!)_

_See you soon, and lots of hugs from me._

_All my affection,_

_Buffy_

Angel had crumpled up the letter and shoved it back into his pocket. When he reached the tiny airport that catered to vampires outside of London, he went to the hotel to check in when night arrived one hour later. Angel then promptly went to the pub downstairs to drown his sorrows and jealousies.

Which brought him to the night he had met Rose Tyler.

He was starting to get plastered on his glasses of Scotch, but the vampire wasn't too plastered that he didn't notice the young woman with the fake blonde hair color slide up next to him. She was pretty enough, he had decided, though she couldn't hold a candle to either Darla or Buffy. He would have tried to get an even better look at her, but the scowl on her face didn't invite further scrutiny. Angel returned to his drink as she signaled to the bartender.

"Bourbon," she ordered. The bartender readily filled a small glass and slid it over to her. She downed it without any coughing or fits. No doubt, she had never met a glass of strong whiskey that she didn't like, Angel had observed out of the corner of his eye.

As she waited for another glass, the young woman had glanced at the people strolling into the place, most of them with either buddies or girlfriends. A tall man wearing a pinstriped suit caught her eye just for a second before he took the arm of a man in a British navy uniform and they walked over to a table in the back of the place. Rose had returned to her drink. She noticed that Angel's eyes had been watching her.

"Wha'?" she asked. When the vampire didn't respond, she fixed him with an angry glare.

"Nothing," he said apologetically. "It's just that you seem to be upset, and I was wondering…"

"'M always upset," she snapped. The revenant thought that he had a female Spike on his hands just then.

Angel downed the contents of his glass and said softly, "Me, too." He threw the few notes he had on him on top of the bar and prepared to leave. The woman's hand stopped him.

"Look, I'm sorry.…I dunno…can we start again?" she asked. Angel thought a moment, sitting back down. It wasn't as though he had any place he had to be just then. She slapped some pound notes on the bar.

"A bottle of wha'ever for my friend!" she commanded. The bartender took the notes eagerly, looking at the vampire for his next request.

"Irish Whiskey," he said, taking out a tiny flask. The female regarded him closely.

"Makes it special…gives it a little kick," Angel said.

"Oh?" the woman asked, raising an attractively sculptured brow. "Maybe I should try…"

Angel interrupted her, saying, "You wouldn't like it. It's kind of an acquired taste."

"I see," the woman responded. Before they could return to their drinks, several men and women entered into the pub. As their scents wafted down to Angel, he knew that this could be trouble.

"Sorry to break up everyone's drunken evening," the woman, a very attractive, thirty-something-looking black British woman, said. She took one look around and then amended, "Well, actually, I'm not feeling regret."

The bartender sized up the pale looking people and their seemingly drug crazed eyes in the dim light. "Hey, look, I just redid this place! I don't want any problem," the bartender said, trying his best to reason with the addicts.

"Too bad," one of the men said. The intruders spread out, surrounding the people in the pub. Before any of them could make a move, Angel sidled up to the black woman.

"Hey, Suzie," he said, putting on a loud, drunk voice. "Is that _you?"_

The woman looked at him with disdain, snarling, "Get the hell away from me, and I might let you live."

"_So _not gonna happen," Angel said softly, his words a deadly promise. "I'll give you all once chance to leave here. After that, it'll get ugly."

When he sensed what Angel was, one of the creatures frowned, snarling, "I don't think so. Why don't you join us?"

Angel shook his head. Another vampire peered at the older revenant, then his eyes lit with recognition.

"Hey! I know you," he cried. "You're the 'Scourge of'…something!"

Angel's hand shot out quickly, stabbing the man with a blunt object. _"_Actually, I'm _really _very sorry you didn't listen to me," Angel said in a sarcastic tone.

He looked straight at the black woman. "But, when it comes to killing you," he said, flinging her words back at her, "I'm not feeling any regret."

The other gang members put on their game faces. Rose shot up from her seat and grabbed another woman, a Caucasian short haired female with red hair, from behind. She flipped the woman onto a nearby table. Both the piece of furniture and the woman crashed to the floor as drunken patrons scattered. In the back, two old men played their card game, totally oblivious to the fight that was brewing.

The Caucasian vampire rebounded. She snarled at the bottle blonde, the latter ho humming at her foe's attempt to frighten her. "Is tha' supposed to scare me?" Rose asked. The red haired vampire sprang to attack once more, but she suddenly evaporated into a cloud of dust, leaving Angel in her wake holding a sharp wooden object in his hand.

When he went after two more male vampires intent on making a snack of the bartender, the bottle blonde was backed into a corner by the black female vamp. "Now, who's gonna save you?" she asked menacingly. The lighter skinned woman took a small device out of her pocket and shoved it into the vampire's chest.

"Me," the blonde said calmly as the vampire disintegrated.

Another vampire, this one a very large one with a bald head which had tattoos all over it, attacked Angel, knocking him over the bar to the area where the bartender had crouched down.

"I'm callin' the authorities," the bartender said.

"Maybe you shouldn't," Angel advised. Before the bartender could ask the vampire why not, Angel leaped over the section where the bottles of liquor were behind him and grabbed a wooden chair, breaking it so that he had a huge wooden leg in his hand. He jammed the leg in the big, tattooed vampire's heart. The being disintegrated instantly. Across the room, the older vampire could see the blonde making short work of a petite female vampire. Wordlessly, Angel and Rose staked them all. When the bartender couldn't hear anything else, he popped his head up and breathed a sigh of relief.

His eyes scanned the damage, which was considerable. There were wooden chairs which were broken into pieces; tables that were bent or completely overturned; and plates and glasses that were smashed all over the floor. The blonde coolly removed several pound notes containing large denominations and placed them on the bar.

"For the damages," she said. The bartender forgot his dismay when he counted them. Angel looked at the pounds, then at the woman. She didn't look like she was made of money dressed as she was in her sweats, but then, one could never tell these days who had money and who didn't by their clothing.

They made their way to the door, the bartender shouting brightly, "Please, feel free to fight some more druggies and smash some more furniture, so long as you pay like you just did!"

When they were outside, Angel used his senses to see if she was a Chosen One. After a second, he decided that she was a normal human being. "'M not a Slayer," she was saying as she walked in front of him.

"Are you a mind reader?" Angel asked, wondering how she did know what he was thinking.

"No," the woman told him, walking to her car, a non-descript looking Toyota Mark Seven Camry. She got in behind the driver's seat, motioning for him to take the passenger's side. Angel's curiosity was at an all time high. He slid in, shutting the door.

"Where are we going?" he asked the woman.

"Somewhere where we can have _decent _drinks, and talk," she responded. She drove toward a large, brown building close to the Northern section of London.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

**A/N: This chapter has an "M" rating for a curse word, just to be safe.**

Angel could tell as he stared at the building in front of him that it took some serious money to live there. Having lived as long as he had, he'd seen his fair share of both extremes. During the Great Depression, he had gone without and had subsisted on rats' and otters' blood to survive. When he had been evil, he literally knew some of the finest heads in Europe as he drained them of their blood. Although the apartment dwelling didn't look ostentatious, the vampire saw that just the doorman's décor alone wasn't purchased in a Five and Dime.

They got out and walked up to the guard. The woman murmured a greeting and the guard waved them in. Angel spotted a concierge desk where a bored woman was reading the Mirror. The blonde woman with him seemed to be in a hurry to reach the elevators—no, _lifts _he told himself—just then. They had almost made it across the spanking new marble floors when he heard her fold the paper.

"Rosie!" she called in a Spikesque Cockney accent, although this one seemed to be a little more Northern. "Rosie" groaned, but turned around, letting the right lift door open then close again.

"Hello, Mrs. Peterson," she greeted. The old woman raised her bushy brows when she saw the younger woman's handsome companion.

"New boyfriend?" she asked, sizing him up. Her smile of only four teeth showed that she liked what she saw.

"Na exactly," "Rosie" told the woman at the front desk.

"Unattached, then?" the older woman said, smiling wolfishly at Angel. The vampire smiled, giving his companion a wink.

"Well, actually," he said smoothly, "I was going with _Rosie _to meet my friend, Gerald. He and I have been going together for quite some time, and she was advising me on where I could get a suit for an upcoming wedding."

The look on Mrs. Peterson's face, one of dejection and frustration, was priceless. _It's always the good lookin' ones! _She thought. Aloud, she said, "Lift at the end is out of order, but you can use the center one."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Presently, they emerged from the lift with the wooden panels on the seventh floor. The woman had been laughing a blue streak, causing her heart to beat rapidly and a spike in her blood that had Angel salivating. He kept his desire for her hemoglobin under control and followed the blonde to the door leading to her flat.

"Come on in," "Rosie" told Angel, bidding, "an' make yourself at home."

The revenant glanced around as he crossed the invisible barrier, not seeing a lot of furniture. What he did see was that, if Rosie could afford a cleaning person, she had apparently fired them or given them significant time off. There were clothes strewn about on the floor and pillows thrown up on an old couch haphazardly. A television was blinking on and off, showing the latest news from the BBC. The windows contained thick drapes that the woman closed as soon as she entered. She walked to a smaller room, possibly a kitchen.

"I'll get us those drinks I mentioned," she told him. She pointed to a nightstand by the couch, and as Angel followed her gaze, he could see the remote control.

"Feel free to change the channel," she said, withdrawing into the kitchen.

The vampire changed the channel to a sitcom, but wasn't really paying attention. Spying a photo album on the coffee table that was in front of the sofa, he flipped through the book. Although it wasn't full of photos, he could see that the ones she had were well worn, as if she ran her fingers over them daily. He saw an older woman with light blonde hair which had some white streaks in it. She wore a sweat suit just like the younger woman's. Maybe she was a mother, he guessed, seeing another photo of a younger Rosie smiling alongside a dark skinned man.

Angel heard a blender whirring as he continued to flip through the book. He saw some other pictures, but what caught his eye were two pictures in the back. One was of Rosie and a long faced man with dark, close cropped hair. The man had a leather jacket and a dark navy t shirt, and he was smiling a manic smile at her. Another photo was of the dark skinned man and a tall, skinny man with big hair wearing a brown pinstriped suit. The man was grinning cheekily and had a pair of nerdy looking glasses. The darker skinned man didn't look happy to be there.

Angel remembered how her eyes had remained on a pinstriped guy inside the bar. He wondered if the man in the photo had been a boyfriend. When the vampire heard the blender stop, he shut the book and replaced it on the table. Rosie emerged with a fruity concoction in one glass, and a dark liquid in the other. He didn't need to know that the dark liquid was blood. He had to hand it to this woman; she was one smart cookie, all right.

"S pig, but you already know that," she declared. Angel drank the liquid, letting the slightly more bitter than human taste slide on his tongue before swallowing.

"How did you know?" he asked. The woman sat beside him and drank her mixed drink.

"I saw you an' the others when they changed," she said. "You registered as a vampire."

Angel looked at her warily. "Registered?" he asked in a cautious tone.

"Yeh," Rosie said. "My contacts told me you'd boarded a plane to London. They've kept you under surveillance for quite some time."

Angel's eyes narrowed as Rosie continued.

"We know a lot about you," she said. "You're one of a few vampires with a soul, an' you're the oldest of the lot."

"I don't know anything about _you, _so why don't you start with your name?" he snapped.

The woman extended her hand, saying, "'m Rose Tyler, an' I don't mean you any harm. In fact, the people I represent want to retain you permanently."

"Not before you tell me why you were tracking me!" the former head of Wolfram and Hart shouted, adding, "If you know what I am, then I'm the last person you want to piss off."

Rose's only response was to stare at him calmly. Then, she said, completely unaffected by him, "Oh, really?"

After a beat during which both tried to size each other up, Rose commented, "I thought they were kidding me when they told me about vampires who had been resouled, but I see now that they were right!"

"_They?" _Angel repeated. "Just who are 'they'? And you still haven't told me why you're interested in hiring me!"

"The people I work with," the woman said. "Scientists an' computer geeks an' the like, they created this meter which I use to scope out aliens an' other things." She removed a device from her pocket which resembled a remote control, but with more settings. There was also a larger screen at the top of it. Angel grabbed the device, studying the lines on the screen.

"I knew you were a vampire because the Aurameter indicated that," she said. Rose reached over and pressed some buttons below the screen. The instrument's yellow lines changed to black, with some white lines framing the black ones.

"Point it at me," Rose directed. When Angel did, the lines changed to all white. He looked at her with curiosity.

"See, the white lines indicate human bio rhythms…auras, particularly a human with positive traits," she explained. "Normally, a vampire's register as all black; however, yours are a mix of the two because you have a soul."

Angel considered his options. He could try to deny that he had a soul to Rose, but somehow, he knew, she wouldn't buy that. Besides, he was curious to know who she worked for and why they seemed to want him so badly. He was about to ask for more information when he remembered what she said about aliens.

"You use that thing on...aliens?" he asked, still not wondering if she was "off her bird", as Spike might have said. Oh, he had seen so many strange things, but they were usually demon, witch or vampire related. The idea of little green men somehow just seemed to him to be so…hokey, like something a bad writer would come up with to stir up ratings on television. His disbelief must have showed because Rose wore an incredulous look of her own.

"You believe in an' have defended the bloody world against vampires and other supernatural creatures, but you don't believe that there are beings out there who want to take over?" she accused him.

Angel chuckled a little as he said, "Sorry, no."

Rose felt her ire rise a little as she thought, _arrogant git! _She forced herself to see things from his point of view, however. She remembered how she had felt a couple of years before when she had laughed off the possibility of otherworldly creatures from outer space. After all, it hadn't been as though scientists had shown any proof of humanoid life forms existing on other planets; so, she had dismissed the notion that they ever did. It took a leather clad Time Lord and a group of living plastic dummies to make her change her mind.

Once she had, her life had never been the same.

"Look," she began patiently, "I've seen some things that could get make you a believer too!"

Angel stood up from the couch, not wanting to hear any more. His life had all of the upheaval he could stand in the past few months, and he didn't want to deal with cryptic speak or the like. He also didn't want to have to face another Drusilla.

"Look, Rose," he said, "I don't know what your game is, but you're obviously mentally challenged or something. Thanks for your help earlier in the bar, and thanks for the blood, but I think it would be better if we just forget this ever happened." He started to go to the door.

"I'm going to my hotel," he announced as he reached for the handle. Rose adjusted a dial on her remote and turned it way over to the right.

Angel found that, despite using all of his strength to pull the door open, he could not get out.

"What the hell?" he shouted, continuing to tug on the door. After a few more moments, he gave up and angrily faced his jailer.

"I'm afraid we can't let you leave, Angelus, not jus' yet," Rose said, her voice detached and clinical. She regretted that she would have to be forceful with this vampire, but if her higher ups wanted him to work for _Torchwood _for reasons only known to them, she was honor bound to deliver.

Not paying attention to her utterance of the Latin form of his name, Angel morphed into his true visage and snarled, "As I _said, _Miss Tyler, you fuck with me, you'll be in for a world of trouble!"

Rose wore a calculating look as she coolly said to the good-looking vampire, "Then, let the games begin."


End file.
